RYAN WIGGLESWORTH treated an audience at Sage Gateshead to an inspiring display of musical multi-tasking – directing Royal Northern Sinfonia (RNS) from both podium and piano, while also presenting one of his compositions.

Performing live to the nation and beyond on BBC Radio 3, he opened proceedings with his First Book of Inventions, which he describes as a continuous movement and the elaboration of a one or two-part texture.

The effect of shifting rhythms in the seven-section piece, produced a dazzling kaleidoscope of textures. At one stage the strings created a gentle pendulum effect, sounding for all the world like a child’s swing, before plunging into keen exchanges with the high woodwinds.

Ending with a chorale, it was only nine minutes long. A short and very sweet starter.

Soprano Sophie Bevan, winner of the Young Singer award at the inaugural International Opera Award, re-affirmed her credentials with a powerful performance of Mozart’s Concerto Aria Ch’io mi scordi di te.

Mozart’s Piano Sonata in 9 K217 “Jeunehomme” is regarded as the work that launched the composer’s career to greatness and was once described by the renowned pianist Alfred Brendel as a “wonder of the world”.

Wigglesworth elevated it to a transcendental level. Enjoying a warm repartee with RNS in a lucid allegro, he then shaped an andantino of pure poetry, with each note allowed to breathe. The finale was driven to a sparkling climax.

Sophie Bevan then presented Berlioz’s dramatic song cycle Les Nuits d’Ete; singing with ardent power and exquisite control.

A buoyant Villanelle radiated joy, while La Spectre de la Rose, an elegant meditation on mortality by a rose picked for the previous night’s ball, was delivered with the subtlest of shading.

The evening was wrapped up with an exquisite rendition of Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin; a mystical memorial to friends lost in battle in the First World War.